Over the past 70 years or so, scientists have learned that certain foods, and more importantly, certain dietary patterns impact health, the risk of developing chronic diseases, and the way your body ages. So, it should come as no surprise that newer research on how well the brain functions and ages, points to the importance of a healthy diet.
The Difference Between a Diet and a Dietary Pattern
A “diet” suggests a more structured way of eating that includes counting calories, portion sizes or servings, and most people think of it as having a starting and ending point. A “dietary pattern” is how you eat over the course of years or even a lifetime. It’s less about what you must give up to account for the cheeseburger you splurged on at lunch today, and more about what you usually eat for lunch. It considers the foods that fill your grocery cart every week, and whether you spend most of your money in the produce department or the snack food aisle.
Research has identified several beneficial dietary patterns for promoting better health and aging. The Mediterranean diet and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diets are two patterns that are rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes. They include smaller servings of lean proteins, mainly from fish or chicken, and they limit highly processed foods and those with refined sugars. It turns out that in addition to their beneficial effects on the body, these diet patterns also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease or slow its progression, and they help to maintain healthy brain function as you age.
Researchers from Rush University and Harvard School of Public Health studied the effects of a diet pattern they called MIND (short for “Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay), and how it impacts cognitive decline, and risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, over a 10-year period. They found out that people who ate a combination of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, or the MIND dietary pattern, reduced their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 53% if they adhered to the diet pattern closely, and about 35% if they followed it at least some of the time. Those who followed the MIND diet pattern had better brain function, as indicated by cognitive testing. This MIND diet study is the first one to relate diet to Alzheimer’s disease.
What Goes in the Grocery Cart?
The best part about the MIND dietary pattern is that it’s flexible and easy to follow. It focuses on 10 foods to eat more of each week and throughout your lifetime, and 5 foods to eat less of.
The brain-healthy foods that should fill your grocery cart and be on your table each week include:
- Leafy greens: like kale, spinach, arugula, bok choy, and other greens.
- Berries: especially strawberries and blueberries, although blackberries, raspberries, and even cranberries provide many benefits as well.
- Any and all vegetables: Try to choose more non-starchy vegetables, like carrots, sweet peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, green beans, Brussels sprouts, and tomatoes, and aim for a good variety each week.
- Fish: especially salmon, sardines, trout and mackerel which are high in omega-3 fats. In addition, the pink-red flesh fish like salmon and red trout, have the bonus of providing the brain-boosting antioxidant, astaxanthin.
- Poultry: chicken or turkey, dark or white meat. Take off the skin before you eat it, and note that fried chicken doesn’t count.
- Whole grains: Step out of the whole-wheat bread box, and try some farro, freekeh, wheat berries, wild rice, or quinoa instead.
- Nuts: especially walnuts, almonds, and pecans, but all nuts have different health benefits so get a variety each week.
- Beans or legumes: Each week try to include a few half-cup servings of lentils, chickpeas, black, kidney, pinto, or cannellini beans, instead of meat, as a side dish, or mixed into soups or stews.
- Olive oil: Use it not only in salads but also for sautéing and as your primary cooking oil.
- Wine: There is more research on resveratrol, the antioxidant found primarily in red wine, but both red and white wine may have benefits for the brain. Make sure you limit wine to just one glass a day.
The brain-unhealthy foods that you should eat only occasionally include:
- Butter and margarine
- Cheese
- Red meat, including beef, pork, and lamb
- Fried food
- Pastries and sweets, including ice cream, cookies, sodas or other sweetened beverages
The foods that promote brain health and memory and cognitive function aren’t there by chance. Each food on the brain-healthy list contributes certain compounds and nutrients that when isolated, have been shown to improve brain health. When eaten together, these nutrients probably have a cumulative effect.
Some of the important compounds in the brain-healthy foods include carotenes like lutein, lycopene, and beta-carotene in plant foods, which reduce damage from harmful free radical compounds in the brain. Fish is rich in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats and the carotene compound, astaxanthin. It’s recognized as one of the most powerful antioxidants available in our diet, and it crosses the blood-brain barrier to offer even more protection to the brain. Nuts, seeds, olive oil, and even poultry are rich in monounsaturated fat which helps to reduce inflammation, and beans, whole grains, and nuts contain magnesium which helps to regulate glucose and serotonin (the feel-good hormone) in the brain.
Remember that the MIND diet is an overall eating pattern. You don’t have to follow it exactly or monitor most portions, but instead try to look for ways to eat more of the brain-healthy foods, and less of the brain-unhealthy foods. The more you eat this way, the more benefit your brain will realize.
References:
Marcason W. What Are the Components to the MIND Diet?. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2015 Oct 1;115(10):1744.
Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, Sacks FM, Barnes LL, Bennett DA, Aggarwal NT. MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging. Alzheimer’s & dementia. 2015 Sep 30;11(9):1015-22.
Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, Sacks FM, Bennett DA, Aggarwal NT. MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia. 2015 Sep 30;11(9):1007-14.